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Today's News

The headline of the article “The Wizard of Vandalia” in the Jan. 30, 1908, issue of The Vandalia Union caught my attention. I have mentioned before that the local newspaper is one of my favorite sources of subjects for this column.

At recent meetings, Vandalia Park District commissioners have discussed a request to allow alcohol at softball fields as a way of enticing more teams to come to Vandalia. The discussion has expanded to include allowing alcohol in the parks for such things as special events and reunions.
Last Thursday, the park district board agreed to hold a public hearing on the issue. That hearing has been set for 6 p.m. in the Little Theater at Vandalia Elementary School.

The law firm of Burnside, Johnston, Connor & Jensen, P.C., formerly Burnside, Johnston & Connor, P.C., has announced that Keith Jensen has become a shareholder and principal of the firm.
Jensen did his undergraduate work at Illinois Wesleyan and graduated from Washington University School of Law in 1976. He thereafter served as an assistant state’s attorney in both Madison and St. Clair counties before becoming a special prosecutor for Fayette, Bond and Cumberland counties.

✔ TOPS IL 2490 will meet from 9:30-10:30 a.m. at First Baptist Church in Ramsey. Weigh-in is from 9-9:30 a.m. For more information, contact Dovie Heaton-Bergin at 283-1729.
✔ CenterPointe Church, located at 1616 Veterans Ave. in Vandalia, is holding free Weekly Fit Club sessions at 6 p.m. every Thursday.
✔ TOPS IL 1872, Ramsey, will meet at the Christian Church in Ramsey. Weigh-in is at 6:20 p.m., and the meeting is at 7 p.m.

After getting some one-on-one feedback on a request to allow alcohol in the parks, the Vandalia Park District Board of Commissioners has decided to hold a public forum on the issue.
At their meeting last week, commissioners addressed that latest request, which would allow consumption of alcohol for softball games.
However, they emphasized that this was not the first request, with previous ones made for a special event or a family reunion.
“I’ve talked to probably 80 people, and it seems pretty split at 50/50,” Commissioner Brian Stout said.

While the Illinois Commerce Commission has substantially scaled down its proposal for Vandalia’s downtown railroad crossings, the city would like to see it give in a little more.
At a work session on Monday night, Rodney Potts of John Crawford and Associates presented to city aldermen the ICC’s second proposal to make changes that would enhance traffic safety at Fifth and Sixth street crossings.

The Vandalia Board of Education on Tuesday accepted bids for construction work that will allow the district to move students out of Jefferson Primary School.
It also approved a bid for the construction of a maintenance building that will be used by the district for storage.
The bids were approved a little less than two months after the board voted to moved kindergarten and first-grade students from JPS into Vandalia Elementary School, and to relocate fourth-grade students from VES to the junior high school.